SAN BERNARDINO – At a time when people are pouring into libraries to fill out unemployment applications or get access to books offering career advice, three local branches are marked for possible closure.

This week’s proposal made by interim city manager Mark Weinberg, in an attempt to eliminate a $9 million budget gap, includes laying off eight library employees and temporarily closing the city’s three branch libraries.

“I have quite mixed feelings about this,” said Milton Clark, president of the library board of trustees. “The city is clearly in dire economic straits and cuts have to be made, but I am concerned that the library may be seen as a non-essential service, which could not be further from the truth in these economic times.”

The situation is so dire that longtime San Bernardino library director Ophelia Georgiev Roop resigned Jan. 21, citing concerns about the proposed closure of library branches and reductions in staffing and service.

Two of the city’s branch libraries – Inghram and Villasenor – are on the Westside, among some of the cities poorer neighborhoods.

The third branch library, Rowe, is in northern San Bernardino.

The city’s flagship library, Norman F. Feldheym Central Library, could be cut back to a four-day operating schedule.

Inghram branch manager Debra Bemben said her Highland Avenue branch lent out about 5,000 volumes of media in January. The branch is also a destination for people needing work.

“People come and use the computers to look for jobs, look for apartments, apply for unemployment,” she said. “We’ve even got bookmarks from EDD saying this is how you apply.”

EDD is the state’s Employment Development Department, which handles unemployment benefits.

Alex Avila, a community activist who on Monday morning was at Inghram, offered his opinion that the closure of libraries would mean that residents would lose a haven from the streets.

“Libraries are a tool of socializing, community. A safe place for people to go when they’re homeless, or youth or families,” Avila said. “Crime will increase because there will be less safe places for people to go.”

Weinberg announced the proposal Monday as part of a large-scale budget cutting plan that leaves almost no city department unscathed.

Weinberg’s proposal goes as far as laying off police and firefighters and would practically gut staffing from the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department.

None of the layoffs or library closures have been enacted.

Although the City Council on Monday gave city administrators the green light to prepare for budget cuts, the council would have to take future action for anyone to lose a jobs.

The council’s next scheduled meeting is set for Feb. 17.

One of library employees’ greatest concerns is the branches will be shuttered for good.

At one time there were five. When the Eleanor Lawson branch closed in 1978 and the May Coddington branch closed in 1992, their doors never opened again.

“I am afraid they will never reopen,” said Millicent Price, principal librarian for the San Bernardino Public Library.

Second Ward City Councilman Dennis Baxter opined that the closures could have been avoided if residents had been willing to accept a $20 parcel tax to fund libraries. However, such a tax failed at the polls in 2003.

“The voters turned that down, and now my attitude is that chickens are coming home to roost,” Baxter said.

Price added that a quote that appears on American Library Association bookmarks is one to think about in these grim times.

It reads: “Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.”

In an attempt to eliminate a $9 million budget gap, interim City Manager Mark Weinberg has introduced a proposal that includes laying off eight library employees and temporarily closing San Bernardino’s three branch libraries.

Two of the city’s branch libraries – Inghram and Villasenor – are on the Westside, among the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

The third branch library, Rowe, is in north San Bernardino.

The city’s flagship library, Norman F. Feldheym Central Library, could be cut back to a four-day schedule.

Andrew Edwards is part of the Southern California News Group's business team and focuses on housing stories for the Inland Empire. He's based at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and has also worked for publications including the Long Beach Press-Telegram and The San Bernardino Sun. He graduated from UCLA in 2003 after studying political science and history.